Taylor Swift’s new man in Midnights trailer is transgender
By Christopher Wiggins
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BEVERLY HILLS, California (Advocate Channel) — For as much erasure of the LGBTQ+ community as of late, one super-star is having none of it and is bringing trans representation to her much-anticipated new album.
Taylor Swift’s Midnights dropped on Friday, but in anticipation of the release, the music maven posted a sizzle reel-style teaser video to her social media accounts Thursday night.
The clip features scenes from several upcoming videos — only the video for “Anti-Hero” has been released — that accompany the album. For LGBTQ+ Swifties, one of the people in the videos stood out.
From the looks of it, through the scenes that Swift revealed, trans model and actor Laith Ashley plays the singer’s love interest at various points.
Ashley appears in silhouette on a crowded dancefloor, engaged in a hot and steamy dance moment with Swift. Further along in the video, Ashley and Swift are in bed together, and Swift longingly caresses Ashley’s shirtless back as he lies sleeping beside her.
The video ends with Swift winking to the camera, and everything cuts to a black credit screen, revealing Laith Ashley’s name below Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff and above comedian Mike Birbiglia.
The model shared the trailer in an Instagram story and wrote, “You are magic. Thank you for letting me play a small part in your story.”
A Taylor Swift album release garners a lot of attention, and the buzz surrounding the video was certainly in line with that notion.
“It’s incredible to see @laith_ashley as a part of the Midnights music videos, and appearing to be a character of Taylor’s desire no less,” said Alex Schmider, director of trans representation at GLAAD, on Twitter.
The internet being the place it is, many who are discovering Ashley’s sex appeal for the first time are fans.
And those who are familiar with him are celebrating this level of exposure.
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